His brain in a turmoil, Ferris got slowly to his feet and looked about. The room was empty. No Siegal, no Brooks. The station was tilted at an angle, swaying slightly. It was falling, due to the excess weight applied when Brooks anchored his cruiser.
Ferris nursed his aching head. The beam had shaved his neck just below the ear, breaking his space tunic's glass helmet, otherwise doing no harm.
Ferris made his way to the airlock. Through the heavy glass he glimpsed a portion of Siegal's ship. Quickly, a plan formed in his mind.
He removed a metal space suit from a locker, donned it and clumped awkwardly up a stairway leading to the upper level. He crossed to a second airlock, advanced through, and stepped lightly onto the top of Siegal's ship. He dropped flat and crawled to the supply lock, through which a ship's food bundles were loaded. He grasped the latch firmly, and waited.
A minute later the little cruiser moved into space. Behind, Fuel Station 12 continued its Earthward fall. Ferris watched it go, his heart heavy. All his belongings went with Station 12, all the things he had called his home for six long years. He wondered about Brooks. The fellow's cruiser was drifting lifelessly to one side, no doubt having been cut free by Siegal. There was no evidence of Brooks' whereabouts.
Ferris clung to the heavy latch as Siegal's cruiser slipped away in space. Above and all around him hovered the vast outline of Earth, the continents and oceans showing dimly through the deep shadows. To the left was the Moon, drifting aimlessly along the great star-curtain.
Ferris tugged at the latch. It moved a little. He tugged again and it sprang free. Ferris stood up, straddled the circular lock, and pulled back the cover. Air rushed out. Through the narrow hole he saw the tiny storage compartment. Satisfied, he let himself through and dropped to the floor, pulling the cover back in place as he did so.
The room was small—only a few feet higher than Ferris, not much longer. The sound of the oxygen pumps grew louder for a moment, as the semi-vacuum was being replaced.
Ferris waited several minutes, then removed the space suit. Finding the air suitable, he stepped to the compartment door, opened it a crack, and peered out.